We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional body horror, but inside Together resides a intense contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot commences when the couple move from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in moments of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
